Mechanism for operating ore-bin gates



W. S. OBR

IEGHNISII FOR OPERATING ORE BIII GATES` I mea sopt. e1. 192s 2Shoots-Shut 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. l2, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicEr? WLLIAM S. ORR, OF MASSILLON, OHIO,ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO @EEP TRAL ALLOY STEEL CORPORATON, OFMASSILLON, OHIO, .A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

IYECHANSM FOR OPERATING ORE-BIN GATES. l

Application filed September 21, 1925.

The presentimprovenilents relate more particularly to means forcontrolling the discharge of material from bins or hoppers of the typeshown for example in U. S. Patcnt No. 702,731 to F. K. Hoover et al.,dated June 17, 1902, but it will be understood that the invention is notnecessarily limited to this particular' type of bin or gate any morethan it is limited to the handling of any particular kind of material.One object of the invention is to provide means whereby the discharge ofmaterial from the bin or pocket, in which it is contained, may becontrolled and effected by a car designed to receive such material forthe purpose of transporting same. In this way the proper location orspotting of the car is assured and the loading operation may be mademore or less automatic. A further object of the invention is to providea mechanism for the purpose in hand which will be relatively simple andso free from mechanical troubles, requiring` a minimum amount ofattention in its upkeep.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the followingdescription setting forth in detail certain mechanism embodying theinvention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one ofvarious mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may beused.

In said annexed drawings Fig. l is a side elevation with parts shown insection of my improved ore bin gate operating' mechanism, the carwhereon such mechanism is in part mounted appearing in end elevation;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of such car, the portions of the binmechanism proper, wherewith the mechanism on the car cooperates, beingshown in dotted outline; and Figs. 23 and d are broken front elevationsof the bin gate and associated parts.

Only the lower portion of the bin or hopper l, wherein the body ofmaterial which is to be transferred to the car 2 is contained, appearsin Fig. l. Such bin has converging front and rear walls in combinationwith a roller 3 journaled below the same and forming a movable bottomwall for the discharge outlet of the hopper. It will be noted that i e.serial No. 57,552. ,my

. the rear wall 4f of the latter extendsnlisubstantially into contactwith the periphe ly of roller 3, while the front wall 5 of said'iiopperterminates some distance above),v the roller, and that in theoutletopeni gmthus formed, a. series of transverse bars or puvers 6 ismounted. The location of the cylinder or roller 3 relatively to thedischargeubpening of the hopper' is such that whenosaid cylinder' is atrest, the line marking 'thehinderlying angle of repose of the mater alin the hopper falls just within the cy nder and the escape of materialby grava .yl is thus checked. The louver bars 6 presenta broken surfacefor the passage of vmaterialbeing discharged and more or lessagitat'eandbreak up the latter as well as prevenu the arching of the material inthe bottom of the bin which might prevent its free flow downwardly ontothe cylinder.

'The mechanism of present interest has to do with the rotation of theroller or cylinder 3 whereby it will thus be seen the discharge ofmaterial from the hopper is effected and controlled. The direction ofrotation of the cylinder is indicated by the arrow in Fig. l and for thepurpose of imparting rotative movement thereto when desired, thecylinder is provided at one end With a large gear 7.

Moreover, in order definitely to stop the discharge of material when agiven amount has been received in car 2, which as shown is a scale cardesigned to weigh and thus measure the quantity Ofsuch material, as isnecessary for instance in blast furnace operation, a retarding or guardgate 8 is provided. This gate is intended to extend the` entire lengthof the drum, being attached to the forward ends of levers 9 that liebeyond the end walls 10 of the corresponding bin and are fulcrumed atpoints ll adjacent the rear wall d. 'Vhen material is being discharged,the gate will occupy the raised position shown in full lines in Fig. l,but upon disconnecting (as hereinafter described) the gearing providedfor rotating the cylinder or roller 3, such gate is dropped into contactwith the drum, as shown in dotted outline in said figure.

A scraper 12 is also associated with the roller, being pivotallysupported at its respective ends and held in contact with the surface ofthe roller by means of a tension spring 13.

The mechanism whereby the roller is rotated and the guard gate 8 raisedand lowered is located on the scale car. This driving mechanism consistsot a pinion 15 which is adapted to meshv with gear 7, said pinion inturn being driven through an idler pinion 1G, this idler being driventhrough a train of gears 1T by a motor 18. Pinion 15 is mounted in asupplemental frame or housing 19 that is oscillatory about the sameshatt 2O whereon idler pinion 1G is mounted, oscillation ot trame 19being secured by means ot' a `fluid pressure cylinder 21 provided with apiston 22 that is suitably connccted with said frame. The oscillatoryYtrame 19 also serves to operate the guard gate, being provided to thisend with an arm that projects beyond pinion 15 so as to engage with aroller on the lower end oit a link 25, the upper end ot' which isattached to lever 9 forwardly ot the latters tulcrum point 11.. Upwardmovement ot the trame may bc limited in any suitable way so as toprevent the teeth ot pinion 15 trom meshing too deeply with those ofgear T, e. g. by means ot a stop 2G on said trame and a co-operativestop 2T attached to the bin structure or the framework whereby thelatter is supported, as will be readily understood.

As a safety precaution, pinion 16 is loose on sha'lt 20 and is locatedadjacent to a magnetic clutch 3U which when energized grips the pinionand thus transmits power 'l'rom the motor drive to pinion 15. Saidclutch will be operated by a push button 31 trom a pulpit 32 or by thelirst point on the controller 33. In place ot such magnetic clutch, anyother suitable type ot clutch may 'be employed, the object being toallow the teeth ot pinion 15 and gear 7 easily to slide in mesh. Itshould be noted in this connection that such teeth will be designed withsharp points so that their ends will not hit in engaging and due to thetact that pinion lo is'loose on. its shatt, said pinion 15 will be treeto revolve enough to adjust itself to the teeth ot the gear 7. Themagnetic clutch serves the further purpose ot" permitting slippage inthe drive in case the material should in any way lodge against thedischarge roller or gate so as to prevent the latter trom turning.

'lhe operation ot the mechanism as a whole may now be briefly set'tort-h. IV hen the scale car is brought into position beneath thedischarge gate ot the bin or hopper. the trame 19 will of course belowered so that the pinion 15 will not strike the gear T. It will benoted that as shown in Fig. Q, two bins with a corresponding number ofoperating mechanisms therefor are shown as adapted siniultaneously todischarge into the car, but it ot course is a matter of indill'erence,so 'far as the principle of the ins '8 is raised in the mannerhereinbetore indi cated and such pinion thereupon brought into mesh withthe gear which it is to drive. AVlotor 1S is then started up and thegate revolved through the magnetic clutch or its equivalent until theproper amount of material has been discharged into the car. li'hen thispoint is reached, the inverse operation is pertorn'ied, i. e. the air isexhausted trom cylinder 21 so to unmesh the pinion 15 t'rom the gear 7and the guard gate S is allowed to drop. Thereupon the car may be movedaway.

Compressed air is most conveniently employed tor operating the trame 19on account ol the tact that air will be required tor the purpose otbraking the car and the air cylinder 21 when containing air underpressure will take care ot any misalignment ot track or drooping ot thecar due to compression ot the springs thereot by the maf terial beingloaded. The. means in question,

in other words, provide a very flexible arrangement and one that makesunnecessary the precise alignment of bin and car. The pinion 15,moreover, will desir-ably have s tace longer than the tace on the gear'T so as to allow :tor a certain amount of variation in the location ofthe car.

Other modes ot' applying the principle ot my invention may be .employedinstead of the one explained,v change being made as regards themechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of thefollowing claims or the equivalent ot such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention 1. In mechanism ol' the character described, the combinationot a bin having a movable guard and a means whereby material may bedischarged from said bin; a car adapted to receive such material whenprop- `erly positioned beneath said bin; and means i tor displacing saidgua-rd and means for actuating said discharge means carried by andoperable from said car;

2. In mechanism ot' the character described, the combination of a binhaving a movable guard and a means whereby material may be dischargedfrom said bin; a car adapted to receive such material when properlypositioned beneath said bin; and means tor raising said guard and meansfor actuating said discharge means carried by and operable from saidcar.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a binhaving a lin) movable guard and a means whereby material may bedischarged from said bin; a car adapted to receive such material whenproperly positioned beneath said bin; means tor actuating said dischargemeans, and means for raising said guard carried by and operable tromsaid car, said means including a link connected with said guard, and anoscillatory trame mounted on said car and adapted when raised to engagesaid link and raise said guard.

d. n mechanism of the character described, the combination of a binhaving a rotary discharge control whereby material may be dischargedfrom said bin, a movable guard and means carried by and operable fromsaid car adapted successively to raise said guard and thereupon rotatesaid discharge control.

5. In mechanism of the character described, the combination ot a binhaving a rotary discharge control whereby material may be dischargedJfrom said bin and a movable guard; a car adapted to receive suchmaterial when properly positioned beneath said bin; and means foractuating said discharge control carried by and operable from said car,said means including a gear attached to said discharge control, a pinionbodily movahly supported in said car and adapted in one position to meshVwith said gear, and a motor connected to drive said pinion.

6. In mechanism ot the character described, the combination of a binhaving a rotary discharge control whereby material may be dischargedfrom said bin; a movable guard adjacent the rotary discharge control; acar adapted to receive such material when properly positioned beneathsaid bin; and means for actuating said discharge control carri-ed by andoperable from said car, said means including a gear attached to saiddischarge control, a pinion bodily movably supported in said car andadapted in one position to mesh with said gear, a motor, and gearingincluding a clutch capable ot slippage connecting said motor with saidpinion.

T. In mechanism ot the character described. the combination ot a binhaving a rotary discharge control whereby material may be dischargedtrom said bin; a movable `guard adjacent the rotary discharge control; acar adapted to receive such material when properly positioned beneathsaid bin; and means tor actuating said discharge control carried b v andoperable from said car, said means including a gear attached to saiddischarge control. a. pinion bodily movably supported in said car andadapted in one position to mesh with said gear, a. motor, and gearingincluding a magnetic clutch capable of slippage connecting said motorwith said pinion.

S. ln mechanism ot the character described, the combination ot a binhaving a rotary discharge control whereby material may be dischargedfrom said bin; a movable guard adjacent the rotary discharge control arcar adapted to receive such material when properly positioned beneathsaid bin; and means tor actuating said .discharge control c rried by andoperable trom said car, said means including a gear attached to saiddischarge control, a pinion bodily movably .supported in said car andadapted in one position to mesh with said gear, a motor, and gearingincluding a magnetic clutch connecting said motor with said pini-on,said 30 clutch being capable ot slippage and being operable trom adistant point on said car.

9. In mechanism of the character described, thecombination of a binhaving` a discharge control in the form of a rotary 35 cylinder wherebymaterial may be discharged trom said bin; a movable guard adjacent therotary discharge control.; a car adapted to receive such material whenproperly positioned beneath said bin; and means for actuatingl saiddischarge control carried by and operable from said car, said meansincluding a gear attached to said cylinder, an oscillatory trame mountedon one side ot said car, a pinion carried by said trame and adapted inone position thereof to mesh with said gear, means for oscillating saidtrame, and a motor connected to drive said pinion.

10. In mechanism of the character described, the combination ot a binhaving a discharge contro-l in the form ot a rotarv cylinder wherebymaterial may be discharged trom said bin; a movable guard adjacent therot-ary discharge control; a car adapted to receive such material whenproperly positioned beneath said bin; and means for actuating saiddischarge control carried by and operable from said car, said meansincluding a gear attached to said cylinder, an oscillatory :tramemounted on one side ot said car, a pinion carried by said 'trame andadapated in one position thereof' to mesh with .sa-id gear, means foroscillating said frame, an idler pinion co-axial with the axis ofoscillation oit the latter, and a motor conneet-ed to drive said idlerpinion.

1l. ln mechanism of the character dcscribed, the combination of a binhaving a discharge control in the form of a rotary cylinder wherebymaterial may be discharged trom said bin; a car adapted to receive suchmaterial when properly positioned beneath said bin; and means toractuating said discharge control carried by and operable from said car,said means including a gear attached to said cylinder, an oscillatorytrame mounted on one side ot said car,

a pinion carried by said frame and adapted in one position thereof tomesh with said gear, a luidpressure avtualed pisl'on for oscillatingsaid frame, and a inolior connected to drive said pinion.

12. ln mechanism ol the Character described, the combination oli a binhaving a gate in the ioini of a rotary cylinder whereby material may bedischarged vfrom said bin: a movable guard for Said gate; a ear adaptedto receive such material when properly positioned beneath said bin; andmeans carried by and operable from said cai' adapted successively loraise said Iguard and l'hei'eupon rotate said gal-e, Said meansincluding` ay gear attached to said cylinder, a link depeniilingi fromsaid guard, a veltieall)v oscillatory frame mounted on one side of saidear and adapted when raised to strike said linl; and raise said guard.ya. pinion carried by said 'Frame and adapted in Such raised posit-ionthereof to mesh with vsaid gear, means for oscillating Said frame, and amotor Connected to drive Said pinion."

Signed by me this 18 day of September, lfli.

VILLAM S. OBR.

